Charles Frederick Beyer (an anglicised form of his original German name Carl Friedrich Beyer) (14 May 1813 – 2 June 1876) was a German-British locomotive designer and builder, and co-founder of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He was the co-founder and head engineer of Beyer, Peacock and Company in Gorton, Manchester. A philanthropist and deeply religious, he founded three parish churches (and associated schools) in Gorton, was a governor of The Manchester Grammar School, and remains the single biggest donor to what is today the University of Manchester. He is buried in the graveyard of Llantysilio Church, Llantysilio, Llangollen, Denbighshire, North Wales. Llantysilio Church is within the grounds of his former 700 acre Llantysilio Hall estate. His mansion house, built 1872–1874, is nearby.
Beyer was from humble beginnings, the son of a weaver. Born in Plauen, Saxony, he was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and become a hand weaver's apprentice. He was taught to draw by a student architect convalescing in the district. His mother dreamt of him being an architect and she paid him to teach mathematics and drawing. Some of his pinned-up drawings were noticed by an "eminent medical gentleman", a "Mr Von Sechendorf" (who was visiting another family member), and a place was procured for him at Dresden Polytechnic, an institute of technical education (it was said that his parents were poor and had no money to send their son to college, but were afraid of giving offence to the civil servant). Beyer supplemented a meagre state scholarship by doing odd jobs (a philanthropic lady was in the habit of giving Sunday dinner to the student with the highest marks that week. Beyer relied on the meal, and consequently made sure that he out-performed everyone else).
Upon completing his studies at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, Beyer took a job in a machine works at Chemnitz, and he obtained a state grant from the Saxon Government to visit the United Kingdom to report on weaving machine technology. He visited Manchester, the world's first industrial city. It was the cotton mills that drove the local economy. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world's first steam hauled purpose built passenger railway, had just opened and people were now able to travel faster than horses for the first time. He returned to Dresden to file his report on the latest developments in cotton mill technology, and was rewarded by the Saxon government.
Despite two offers to manage Saxony cotton mills, Beyer was determined to return to Manchester. In 1834, aged 21 and speaking little English, he returned to Manchester, accompanied by his teacher, Professor Schubert, who introduced him to S. Behrens and Co, a well-known merchant in the city. While they could not help him, they obtained an interview for him with Sharp, Roberts & Co, (Atlas Works), where he impressed Thomas Sharp. However, Sharp risked alienating his workers by employing a German immigrant with a poor command of English; Sharp explained the situation to Beyer and offered him a sovereign to cover his travelling costs. Beyer refused the money exclaiming: "It is work I want", and insisting he was prepared to work for very little money. Impressed by Beyer's attitude, Sharp took the risk and employed him as a low-paid draughtsman, working under the guidance of head engineer Richard Roberts.
In 1852, when admitted to the Institution of Civil Engineers, his address was stated as 60, Cecil Street, Manchester. His proposer was Richard Roberts, and he was seconded by Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
The 1861 census states that Beyer lived at 9, Hyde Road, Manchester age 47, engineer employing of 800 men birth Saxony, Eliza Seddon, 55, widow, born Wales, housekeeper, born Manchester, Catherine Ellis, 50, widow, cook, Mary Jones, 23, house servant, born Wales, Ann Hughes, 23, house servant, born Wales. His neighbour at 11, Hyde Road was Charles Sacré, 29, civil engineer,
In 1868, the UK Poll Book states that in the Parish of Llantysilio, he stated his address as Stanley Grove, Oxford Street, Manchester, (now the site of Manchester Royal Infirmary, teaching hospital). He voted for Sir Watkin Wynn
The 1871 census states that Beyer lived at 1, Stanley Grove, Oxford Street, (now Oxford Road), Manchester. He was 57 years old at the time and he stated that his occupation was "Mechanical engineer, employer of the firm Beyer, Peacock and Co., Locomotive builders, about 1,500 men and owner of about 700 acres of land in the parish of Llantysilio, (Llantysilio Hall), N. Wales". Suzannah Williams, 54, housekeeper born Gwyddelwyn, N. Wales (near Llantysilio), Elizabeth Hughes, 44, housemaid, born Chorlton on Medlock, Catherine Evans, 25, waitress, born Llangollen, Winifred Roberts, 22, kitchen maid, born Llanfor.
His neighbour at 5, Stanley Grove then 19 years old, and from Frankfurt, Germany: Arthur Schuster, destined to become the first Beyer Professor of Applied Mathematics. He was Professor of Physics (1888–1907) when Owens College became the Victoria University of Manchester (Est 1904). In the First World War Schuster was accused of spying when he had possession of a radio that could receive signals from Paris and Berlin (he sued his accusers and gave the money to charity).
Another neighbour, at 4, Stanley Grove, was Salomon L Behrens, aged 83, the founder of S. Behrens & Co., who 37 years previously, introduced Beyer to Richard Roberts in 1834 (see below).
Friedrich Engels also lived in the neighbourhood 1840–1870; 25 and 58 Dover Street and 6 Thorncliffe Grove (now Thorncliffe House, a University of Manchester hall of residence; (Karl Marx was a frequent visitor to Engels in Manchester). Engels wrote The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 following his study into the conditions faced by Victorian workers in the cotton mills of Manchester. Beyer had just become the head engineer at Atlas Works at the time.
The company manufactured cotton mill machinery and had just started building locomotives for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Roberts was a prolific inventor despite being self-taught, with no university education or training. His genius was constrained by his inability to clearly state his ideas on paper; he said of his draughtsman:
"There is a man who can tell every word I say, but cannot put my ideas upon paper; and here is another (Mr. Beyer) who scarcely knows English, but who can not only understand but also put into shape all that I mean."
Beyer's technical training in Dresden, coupled with his natural aptitude for drawing and design, made him a perfect partner for Roberts.
The latter's skills in designing cotton mill machinery did not translate into success in locomotive design, but he put his faith in Beyer and let him take over design and production of the company's new locomotives. Beyer designed the locomotives that made Sharp, Roberts & Co famous as locomotive builders. Roberts retired from the firm in 1843, and Beyer became chief engineer.
In 1842 Beyer designed a tender which became the standard for British railways. featuring outside frames. On 3 October 1846, one of his 0-6-0 "luggage" engines hauled a train of 101 wagons weighing 597 tons from Longsight in Manchester to Crewe, 29 miles at an average speed of 13.7 mph. This was a world record at the time. In 1847, a similar locomotive, ran 3,004 miles on the London and Birmingham Railway with a coke consumption of only 0.214 lb per ton per mile. The next best locomotive burned 0.38 lb per mile, another record. By 1849, Beyer had helped produce over 600 locomotives.
In 1844 the King of Saxony visited the Atlas; Beyer showed him the works, and soon the Saxony government was ordering locomotives from the company. Beyer's main design features were placing the boiler line at a higher level which made for smoother running. He was the first to give the boiler freedom to expand. The shape and appearance of British railway locomotives owed more to Beyer, than any other designer.